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The Almost MMO and Me - Bill Murphy - MMORPG.com
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
The Almost MMO and Me - Bill Murphy - MMORPG.com
I’ve noticed something of late - I haven’t logged into a real MMORPG, even my precious Elder Scrolls Online, in weeks. In ESO’s case, this is partly because I’m waiting for Elsweyr. But usually, between big content swells of ESO, I’m at least playing something else - GW2, WoW, FFXIV, Neverwinter, and so forth. But there’s a type of game that seems to be meeting my needs for persistence and online play. I’ve been trying to think of a name for them for ages, and I think Almost MMO just about covers it.
Comments
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The mmo genre is totally stagnant, whereas a lot of these looter-shooters and "not-quite-mmo"s have been evolving quite a bit.
1) Phenomenal realm vs realm content unlike anything I can experience elsewhere.
2) Deep buildcraft comparable to the original Guild Wars.
3) Or both.
My gaming time is precious and a majority of MMOs don't deserve a piece of that. Much less the huge piece that they demand.
I still enjoy a good mmorpg, but just like my single player games I don't need to rush things. There are so many things out there to enjoy.
Almost that time of year to smell them roses
Enjoy your kids Bill, time goes by and they grow up so fast.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
We need to go back to a place in the development where taking a new direction is easier, rather than just trying to climb a mountain.
I think "almost mmo" is a good way to describe them and "Ammos" rolls off the tongue nicely. That said, the "almost" qualifier makes them seem "less" than mmos, and while that may be true in some respects, a moniker with a more positive connotation would probably work better and might even catch on.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
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The problem I see with the author of this article @SBFord and every person that complains about how BUSY they are and how they have A JOB, AND KIDS, and A WIFE comes down to 2 core things. First being that today's MMORPGS are built for you to jump on their Treadmill and RUN as fast and as HARD as you can for 2 to 3 months where you need to put a ton of time into the game so you can keep up with the raiding curve. You do this because when the raiding curve has past there are few options left to raid without tools like LFD and easy raids. You have to run content daily like in FFXIV to get your Stones or other games do their dailies to get your gear for raiding. Plus you have to do multiple levels of raid content to get the best gear to take on the hardest content. YES this content gets old and why I no longer play current MMORPGS.
The second problem with this group if you mindset. You look at games like Classic, Ashes, Pantheon, Camelot Unchained and you think. O my god HOW do I a person with a Casual Schedule get ANYWHERE in this games. Then you go on a rant on how you have a job and a life outside the game like there is no one else that has these things too play these games or will play these games. Is your mindset which is stuck in the I need to keep up with what ever curve there is. Instead of taking more of an acceptance approach. In my first paragraph I told you my life during the first 4 years of WOW. I got to see a lot of content I did not see it all, BUT I did do a good amount. Why? Because I took a long view of the game and of other games. You can do.
For Example. I am working on building a guild for Classic WOW. I personally today have a schedule visitation schedule to see my kids. I work about 45 hours a week now, I also work on certifications mainly for Microsoft Azure. I also work out 3 days a week, I go fishing at least once every other weekend when I dont have my daughters and I try to fish in between. So I am a fairly busy almost 39 year old man here. I will be running a classic WOW guild, in my guild right now I have a guy going for his P.H.D who is about 6 months from completing it plus him and his Wife are trying to have a kid. I have another guy who is in his late 40s and has kids. Most everyone in our guild has kids and a life outside the game, and the one guy who does not have kids works 8 to 10 hours a day 6 days a week.
Yet we all are working on a guild that will see a lot of the Classic WOW content. How are we doing it? We are all taking a very long view of the game. We do not feel we need to clear Naxx in under 24 months. We will take 4 to 6 months just for leveling and getting ready to raid. We will only raid 2 to 2.5 hours 2 days a week. We are ok with taking months of gearing up and enjoying the content and having a WOW family again. None of us enjoy jumping on the Treadmill running as hard and as fast as we can until we burn out then quitting the game. Its our Mindsets that will allow us to do this in an old school game. You can to if you want to.
Lets say you want to play Ashes of creation and become a very good blacksmith. Well Maybe you dont have 20 hours a week it takes to become the best blacksmith on the server and make all of the best gear. What about specializing in maybe just making weapons or maybe armor? Narrow your focus and accept that you will not be able to do everything and be the best at everything. Only less than 1% of the MMORPG population should be that good. When I was playing SWG I was the best at making Rocket Launchers on my weaponssmith and YES I had hundreds of Millions of credits in the game. Some others had more than I did however I still made a killing to do everything I wanted to do in game. I had a Narrow focus and was the best at that. I enjoyed my time playing MMORPGS that required a lot of effort. Most of that time I didnt play endless hours and had no life. I always had a life outside the game.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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I am saying everyone like Bill, and yourself as well as others who say. I just cant play MMORPGS like I use to because Life. Then they take a look at up and coming MMORPGS and Classic and dont see how these games can work. I am saying its your mindset on these games that hold you back, like my mindset holds me back from today's MMORPGS. I talk about how you can as a person with a life can play these games you just have to change your mindset. Look at what I am trying to do with the guild I am going to run for classic. Its a long view of the game vs running your ass off today on the treadmill that MMORPGS have become. Besides if I want to get on a treadmill I will walk to the other end of the building here and get on the treadmill there.
This is exactly what I am saying. Players who play MMORPGS that take a lot of effort and dont have the endless amounts of time can still enjoy the content when they have an accepting mindset.
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EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
But what I do not do is decide because my playstyle is changing that what games are called must change as well. Indeed in his article Bill seems to recognise this, they only have MMO like elements, that's hardly 'almost a MMO'.
When I was a lot younger I moved from mainly playing shooters and RPG's to MMOs, I did not decide that games like Asherons Call and DAOC were "Almost Shooters".
This revaluating of reality to suite oneself is hardly restricted to gaming we often seem to decide that "what I want now is normal because it is what I want". But I think you can be in the same boat as Bill and realise that pretending something like Division 2 are now MMOs is just irrational.
I think many of us will face the problems he talks about with any upcoming MMOs, but with a good enough guild we can do it.
Essentially, MMOs have become a watered-down version of their past selves; leaving many of the endearing features at the wayside to better accommodate modern gamers. Granted, I appreciate this and don't fault them for it -- after all, I don't want to spend hours just getting a group together and running to the entrance of the dungeon I want to run. But, at the end of the day, MMOs are trying to be something they're not and really become little more than co-op experiences. In order to enjoy all of the content offered by those MMOs (especially the most difficult/rewarding content, ie. raids), you'd have to take time to schedule a certain number of hours in the week with 6-10 other individuals in order to complete it (raids, etc). So, there's a real disconnect between the two "difficulties" that leave "casual gamers" (read: those without ample amounts of time to play) who crave challenging content to the wayside.
The other games you mentioned (Anthem, Div2, D2, etc) are made more for that lobby-style, co-op game play and don't pretend to be something they're not. They really shine in comparison to MMOs for that quick, bite-sized piece of content and entertainment because they are made from the ground up for it. For those of us, like you, who have a busy personal or professional life, these games offer more on-the-fly enjoyment due to the content being created for just that kind of consumption. Want more challenging content? Just increase the difficulty level and queue up. Chances are, all of the content in these games are easily accessible, even at the hardest difficulty, to the majority of players -- better, they don't require precise planning and scheduling to achieve progression.
TL;DR I don't find MMOs challenging enough anymore from the perspective of someone with limited playtime. Co-op games offer more challenge and better feeling of progression for those times I have to drop-in and play.
One of the things that has killed this genre, IMO, is the comparison of every new game to WoW. It has had an eternity to grow its content. WildStar can't launch with the content of a 15 year old mega success. Guild Wars 2 can't. ESO can't. None of these kickstarter MMOs can. Nothing can compare to WoW's scope until there is no WoW, and our comparisons of anything and everything to it leave every new game with less room to grow and work their way up to becoming that new mega MMO we all claim we want.
WoW, Rift, Wildstar, ESO, GW2, SWTOR and dozens of games just like them have zero appeal to me, and I have all the time in the world now to play them. None are on my hard drive.
I want off the gear/dungeon/raid treadmill. I want something different. I want a MMOFWS. (Fantasy World Simulation)
Right now Crowfall holds the most appeal to me. Finally someone is remaking EVE's systems into a fantasy game. Can't wait to try it.
Some of the other games coming have my eye too, but the proof is in the pudding as they say. Can't tell if it is a FUN game until you play it.
( Note to self-Don't say anything bad about Drizzt.)
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